My parents, brother, and I went out for dinner, just like old times. It was delicious.

My parents, brother, and I went to a Musica Viva concert, not quite like old times. You see, unlike when we attended Musica Viva concerts 15 years ago, this time I didn’t fall asleep in the aisle after intermission.

Speaking of old times:

That’s what my brother and I used to look like.

This is what we look like now:

(I have some tremendously hilarious old photos of E.TeacherLord and me up my sleeve, but I feel I must ask permission before showcasing his childhood bowl haircut to the world.)

The Wayfaring Chocolate family’s pre-concert dinner took place at Delhi 6, which was conveniently located a mere five minute walk from the School of Music.

My father started off with a Mango Lassi, which was less hyperactively-coloured in reality. In reality, it was also delicious; not too sweet, thick and creamy, true in its mango flavour and perhaps, just perhaps, heightened by a little strawberry puree flavour.

For his main, Dad ordered the Beef Jalfrezi, while E.TeacherLord had an unpictured Lamb Saag. These manly men also shared rice and both plain and garlic naan.

My mother opted for the Chicken Biryani, which led to us retelling the story of when she and I were in Mauritius and stalked by a bus driver who wanted us to come to his place to eat his wife’s biryani (I should tell you that tale properly sometime). The flavour of the biryani was lovely.

I’m adamant, however, that my dish was the pick of the night. I ordered the unexciting-sounding Lemon Pumpkin curry, but by bing golly gosh! Unexciting is the last term I’d use for it. Zingy with lemon and mustard seeds, the sweet butternut pumpkin had been simmered with complex spices, whole chillies, and bay leaves until it was one of the tastiest curries I’ve ever had.

So. Good.

Almost as exciting, however, was the side dish I ordered, comprised of That Which Is Worth [Almost] More Than Gold.

You know what I’m talking about. Bananas.

I haven’t had a banana in almost a year. At $3.50 a pop, I simply haven’t been able to justify it. But offer me a side dish of banana tossed with coconut, sliced almonds, and rose syrup, and I can’t not justify it.

After happily filling our bellies with delicious Indian food and our souls with stories and laughter, my family and I went to see Steven Hough perform a selection of sonatas. (Kath, the following is for you.) We heard Beethoven’s Sonata No 14 in C sharp minor (which many of you would know as Moonlight Sonata), Scriabin’s Sonata No 4 and No 5, both in F sharp major, and Liszt’s Sonata in B minor (all 32 minutes of it).

We also had the honour of hearing one of Hough’s own compositions, created specifically for this Musica Viva series. Because I am very, very, very mature, right before Hough began playing his Sonata for Piano (Broken Branches), I noticed that the program listed all sixteen sections of this Sonata.

“Hey, E.Teacherlord,” I whispered. “At the same time as me, close your eyes and jab your finger at the program. The sections we end up pointing to have to be the names of each of our first-born children, okay? Okay?”

And that, my dear readers, is why my brother’s first-born child is going to be called VOLANDO! and mine will be called NON CREDO!

They’re definitely not going to get made fun of in the playground at all.

Question Time: Do you like going to classical music concerts? And how much do you want to steal the name Volando for your own hypothetical child right now?

It sounds like you had a wonderful night, and it must be incredible fun catching up as a family of 4 when your brother is in town. I think you made the best dinner choices too (especially the banana!) 😛

On the topic of bananas, they’re now available for $6.95 / kg at the fruit and vegetable markets I shop at! I can totally justify that. Still $10 / kg in the supermarket though…

I totally want to steal the Lemon Pumpkin Curry. You can keep Volando (although I think you should peruse the end of year baby name lists and check whether Volando makes a late entry, although I suspect it’s too late in the year- and it will remain packed with Lachlans, Williams and Aaaaleahs.

I have two bananas that the boys didn’t manage to eat whilst I was away this week. I think they’re on the turn. I’m terrified of them going too ripe. I think I shall try another smoothie in the morning. Actually that’s a good idea. A compost smoothie.

What a de-lovely and delicious post. I am a newcomer to the great realm of Indian food, having prior to this year been 100% uninterested. But now that my eyes have been opened, and my taste buds too, I have a lot of tasty catch-up to play at.

Wheeee classical. I’ve always loved to sleep at classical concerts, although never in the aisles. Maybe I should try it sometime. I have an orch concert coming up at the end of this month that is going to be so very very sick, aka awesome. We have some sort of fancypants virtuoso violinist fella coming to join us, and if we all don’t mess up too much, he’ll probably sound pretty good!

I looked up Broken Branches and there are so many good options. Immenso? Okay, just cruel. Malancolico? Also sounds a bit cruel, but also evil. Crux fidelis? More like hell yes!

Oh Emma! The glories that await you! Rich dahls! Spicy heavenliness! Vindaloos and chutneys and samosas and sickly, sickly, sickly, SICKLY sweet desserts! I wish I could be there with you as you take your first steps into the wonderful world of Indian food. (That said, I still like Japanese more 😛 )

My dear, the aisle is the only place to be! Otherwise you’re sleeping between the rows at everyone’s feet, and we all know that that way lies heel prints on the forehead. I wish I could go to your concert! My gospel choir is performing at the end of this month too. We should salute each other from our respective stages!

Now, as to your three future children… Immenso is clearly going to be egocentric, Manacolico will be plagued with illness his whole life, and Crux Fidelis is clearly straight out of a Harry Potter novel. Good luck with that, Mother Emma!

That is the most beautiful spread of Indian food I’ve seen, and the lemon pumpkin curry sounds incredible to me. I haven’t been to very many classical music concerts and I really should try to go to one again. Who knew they were the place to find the appropriate name for your first born child? Volando is a proud name, he’ll grow into a hero.

About 6 months ago my friend talked me into going to a concert with her (was it a symphony? orchestra? I don’t know the difference).
All I remember was that the first piece was boring while the second one was not, mainly due to the fact that the pianist acted as though he were waging war with the piano.
Seriously, I thought he was trying to kill it.

Bahaha! Just between you and me, there are always parts during piano concerts where I look at the pianist jerking his/her head around and smashing at the piano and think “surely that’s just for show?” But actually, I think I used to do a bit of swaying when I played myself, so probably they’re for real 🙂

Haha! I can totally see Volando being a total ladies man when he grows up…or maybe Volanda if it’s a girl, and if she doesn’t have waist length shiny black hair by the age of five, you must buy her a wig! 😉 Haha!

Sounds like you had a great night…good company, good food, and good entertainment!

Man, I wish my family ate food like this. I just went out to dinner with them earlier tonight – an exceedingly rare occurrence, but it’s my dad’s b-day. They had:
– iceberg lettuce with cheese, bacon, and an ocean of ranch dressing
– ribeye steak with a mountain (seriously, 1/2 a pound) of mashed potatoes with several tablespoons of butter
– fried chicken strips dipped in more ranch dressing
– white pasta and chicken covered in a cream sauce
– an incredibly oily carrot cake slice the size of my face, smothered in warm cream cheese icing (ok, so I may have partaken in that one)
I was alright with my focaccia bread and little pile of black beans and rice, but I’m sure my whole family’s arteries would be better off if they ate a meal like yours! Indian food is my favorite. So’s Beethoven.

Whatever; Flying and I Don’t Believe will be THE most popular kids on any playground.

Bananas = yet another reason you need to live here. 39 cents a pound, baby.

Oh my golly! I’m definitely, definitely, definitely not meaning this in a rude way at all, but I’m actually amazed that all of that food was at one meal! I don’t know if I’d ever really believed that that style of feast truly happened! Wow. I mean, I guess in part almost none of that could be on our table because of my mum’s allergies, and half of it doesn’t really exist in the Australian food consciousness, but wow. I’m actually rather impressed 😛 (But of course you had to have the carrot cake! After all, dessert! 😀 ) Have they come around to your raw cheezecake creations and amazing, amazing, amazing raw entrees yet? Surely they must have!

Amber, you would have loved Steven Hough’s rendition of Moonlight Sonato. Although my brother plays it pretty well too, I must say 😛

I take your Flying and I Don’t Believe children’s names and raise you Total Eclipse of the Heart and Wannabe.

Well, they all had salad and dessert, and my dad, mom, and sister had the steak, pasta, and chicken, respectively, but they all shared some.

Have they come around to my raw food yet…um, no. Not by a long shot. They’ve made it clear they have little to no interest in any of it. I tried giving my parents samples of a couple desserts quite awhile back, but never heard any feedback, so I just let it go. And of course, my sister and I haven’t spoken in probably 2 years or so, even when we’re in the same room or at the same table. As I’ve said before, my family and I are quite the opposite of “close”…

I take your Total Eclipse of the Heart and Wannabe and raise you Lord Abortion and Tormentor of Christian Souls. (Songs by Cradle of Filth and Dimmu Borgir, respectively. 😉 ) Hahaha…

Oh, that makes more sense! I was imagining a huge big buffet spread. The reality is far more understandable 😀

Oh, Amber. I’ve meant to ask you about this before, because I have noted your prior references to a not-great-level of closeness, but then I saw some posts on your blog about family events and was really hoping things had become more supportive. To be honest, I don’t think I could get my family to be super-keen about an entire raw meal including savoury courses, but luckily the raw brownies and date-nut creations have gone down well. Because raw desserts are delicious, and I’m sure your cookbook recipes are even more phenomenal. Fingers crossed they come around soon 🙂 xoxo

If I could, I’d honestly post you so many bananas from NZ where they’re very cheap, that you’d have enough to bake with, casually eat and work into some daring savoury dish, with enough leftover to fashion into a summery fascinator for your har.

Musica Viva sounds cool – I do love classical music! And I love silly games even more. Volando’s a cool name, a good match in fact for my 14 year old self’s dream of meeting a man with the sexy name of Banquo (was studying MacBeth at the time)

Oh, I wish you could! By the time the bananas arrived, I’m sure they’d be super ripe and perfect for baking with and for everything else you so ingeniously suggested! Although perhaps instead of a summery fascinator, they’d have to be mashed into my hair like some sort of crazy-hippie-back-to-nature-pungent-shampoo…

Yay for the brilliance of both Broadway and classical music! But man, not a single person has been in support of my little Non Credo. He’s the climax of the piece! The climax! Why won’t anybody love him?

Your family is great 🙂 & those dishes look so fun and delicious. Yay for long lost bananas. I have a whole basket full right now, I went a bit mad when they came down to $10 per kilo. Oh, and Non Credo is a great name, you must be thrilled! To think it could have been something weird… 😛
Heidi xo

Oh Hannah, I agree that your dish won. It looks fabulous as does your dad’s mango drink. Soun like you’re having a lot of fun even with expensive bananas. But, Volando? My issue is what do we shorten it to since that what we Americans do. Vollie? Voldo?

Apparently, even before the cyclones in Queensland wiped out most of the banana crop last year, we Aussies were still paying exorbitant amounts for our bananas compared to you lucky Americans. Life is hard 😛

ahhh awesome!! I’ve always wanted to go see a classical music concert, but hopefully someday not too far in the future~ 😀 And the dishes…everything looks yummilicious Hannah! I love Chicken Byriani too.

Hahaha, I love this! Volando at least sounds a bit like Orlando, a name which many people associate a handsome elf / pirate with. (Let’s hope it won’t be a girl. ;))

I’m always reluctant to order food that has lemon flavor in it, and I can’t even tell why. Maybe just because I don’t like the idea of sour food? But I once had lemon flavored chicken at a tapas bar which was *by far* the best dish of the evening! 😀 So, I’m making my way to the lemon. 😉

I still think E.TeacherLord is the best name of all. Allegretto would also be nice, though.

I know exactly where you and your brother are standing in that photo from when you are kids because that is where I spend every summer! Got to love Malua Bay.

I do enjoy a classical music concert but I’m ashamed to say that I’m more likely to fall asleep now than I was 15 years ago. Back then I lived at home and went to school. I was plenty rested. Now life is so busy that put me in a warm, dark room with lovely music and it is a recipe for sleep. Very frustrating!

Holy smokes, you’re clever! I had assumed this was at Merimbula as that’s where we’d go every summer as kids, but I just checked the name of the photo and it says “1994-MaluaTlba”…so you’re bang on! I’m very impressed.

Teehee, I completely get what you mean! I tend to close my eyes at concerts, not to sleep, but because I’m so tired I can only focus on one sense at a time and it’s more important to hear than watch a concert 😉

That’s probably one of the few things that proves we truly are related. (Though, to be honest, I see more similarities in our looks now that we’re both Grown Up. Kind of. Not really. Just sometimes in the nose…)

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About

Hannah. Writer, editor, firm believer in socks, gin, laughter, buttered toast, cheesecake, and semicolons. Currently back in Canberra after two years living in Canada; heart tingling to see what happens next.